Moscow - Russia was hit by sweltering heat that fanned fast-spreading forest fires on Wednesday, sparking fears of a repeat of last year's record drought and the death of hundreds of people.

The Emergencies Ministry said the number of fires burning across the country had jumped by 35 percent over the last 24 hours, now affecting an area of 10 800 hectares.

Last year's worst hot spell on record sparked peat bog and forest fires that scorched a quarter of Russia's crops and engulfed Moscow in a cloud of acrid smoke that health authorities said was behind hundreds of deaths.